Category: Health

The cutoff for irreversible climate change has long been accepted as two or more degrees in global temperature compared to pre-industrial records. Reports show that, in early March 2016, this cutoff was crossed for the first time in recorded history.

January and February of 2016 broke all previous monthly records for high temperatures. Accompanying this trend are regular reports of melting ice caps and changes to animal migratory patterns. But the link between climate change and mental health is less visible.

One effect has been observed in farmers who are closely connected to the land. For some, environmental problems stem from insufficient water supply. For others, too much rainfall is a detriment to crop growth. Not surprisingly, farmers are anxious.

Matthew Russell is an Iowan farmer whose family has tended to their land for five generations. In an interview with Medical Daily, he recounts the physical and psychological toll brought on by extreme climate conditions:

“Psychologically, in the last few years, there’s a lot of anxiety that I don’t remember having 10 years ago. In the last three or four years, there’s this tremendous anxiety around the weather because windows of time for quality crop growth are very narrow.”

Russell explains that this narrow window is due to increasing levels of rain, which leave his land muddy and wet, decreasing crop quality.

Aside from droughts and flooding, extreme temperatures compound the problem, as do weeds, pests, and fungi that thrive better as a result of warmer temperatures and increased carbon dioxide levels.

For those like Russell who have farmed throughout their lives, the idea of uprooting and relocating or finding a new profession seems daunting. With the continuing effects of climate change, this threat may soon become reality.

Anxiety is not the only mental-health concern influenced by climate change. A reportfrom the US National Library of Medicine states:

“An association has been found between crop failures due to unexpected droughts and suicide attempts in the farmers. Failure of crop can lead to economic hardships. When dependent on low precipitation situations, the farmer might not be able to sustain the expenses of the family and may become a victim of the debt trap to meet the expenses.”

Although the report focuses on droughts in Australian and Indian populations, these experiences are echoed elsewhere, like in California. Drought there has contributed to failed crops for farmers, as well as increased food prices for consumers in North America. A 2012 report showed that the economic hardship associated with these problems has increased the risk of suicide in American farmers.

A study on suicide by Ryan Sturgeon at the University of Calgary examined the content of calls to a rural stress line from farmers in Manitoba, Canada. He found that farmers may not be using the mental health resources open to them:

“Multiple factors may negatively impact farmers’ help-seeking behaviour, including greater isolation due to a growing distance between farms, increased competition and less cooperation among farmers because of the changing global economy, and fragmentation of existing rural communities as more people are moving off farms and into urban areas.”

Problems brought on by climate change are exacerbated in vulnerable rural communities populated by farmers. But as a worldwide phenomenon, climate change is likely to affect mental health globally.

It is often portrayed as a happy and exciting time but the experience of pregnancy can be mixed, with physical and mental complications dampening the experience.

In a recently released documentary, Moms and Meds, director Dina Fiasconaro addresses the challenges that she and other women with psychiatric disorders face during pregnancy.

Fiasconaro’s goal in making the documentary was to investigate women’s experiences with psychotropic drugs at this life stage. She became pregnant while on anti-anxiety medication and had difficulty obtaining clear information from healthcare professionals.

In an interview with the Trauma and Mental Health Report, Fiasconaro explained:

“I received very conflicting information on what medications were safe from my psychiatrist, therapist, and high-risk obstetrician. Even with non-psychiatric medication, I couldn’t get a clear answer, or from the pharmaceutical companies that manufactured them. No one wanted to say ‘that’s okay’ and be liable if something were to go awry.”

When she spoke to her maternal/fetal specialist, she was provided with a stack of research abstracts regarding the use of certain psychotropic medications during pregnancy. Although the information was helpful, it didn’t adequately inform her about the risks and benefits of medication use versus non-use.

One of the main questions Fiasconaro had was, should she continue using medication and risk harming her baby, or should she discontinue use and risk harming herself?

One of the women featured in Moms and Meds, Kelly Ford, contemplated suicide several times during pregnancy. When her feelings began to intensify, she admitted herself to a hospital. There, she was steered away from taking medication which led her to feel significant distress and an inability to cope with her declining mental health.

Elizabeth Fitelson, director of the Women’s Program at Columbia University, also featured in the documentary, believes there is a tendency for healthcare professionals to dismiss mental illness in pregnant women.

In the film, Fitelson said:

“If a pregnant woman falls and breaks her leg, for example, we don’t say, ‘Oh, we can’t give you anything for pain because there may be some potential risk for the baby.’ We say, ‘Of course we have to treat your pain. That’s excruciating. We’ll give you this. There are some risks, but the risks are low and, of course, we have to treat the pain. ‘”

This lack of validation for mental health issues was echoed by Fiasconaro when she visited her doctor:

“I was referred to a high-risk obstetrician by my therapist. Although I was given the proper advice, that high-risk doctor ended up being very insensitive to my mental illness. She told me that everybody’s anxious and brushed it off like it was a non-issue. I understand that in the larger context of what she does and who she treats, my anxiety probably seemed like a low priority in the face of other, seemingly more threatening, physical illnesses.”

The ambiguous information provided by health professionals is representative of a lack of research on the risks of using medication during pregnancy.

Mary Blehar and colleagues, at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), state in the Journal of Women and Health that data are lacking on the subject. In a review of clinical research on pregnant women, they found that data obtained over the last 30 years, about which medications are harmful and which can be used safely, are incomplete. These gaps are largely due to the majority of information being based on case reports of congenital abnormalities, which are rare and difficult to follow.

During her pregnancy, Fiasconaro was able to slowly stop taking her anxiety medication. But halting treatment is sometimes not an option for women who suffer from severe, debilitating psychiatric conditions such as bipolar disorder, major depression, or schizophrenia.

We also need to improve access to information on pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment options, including psychotherapy for women with mental-health problems during pregnancy. Without adequate guidance, the management of psychiatric conditions can leave many feeling alone and overburdened. These women often feel stigmatized and neglected by healthcare professionals. The development of supportive and informative relationships is necessary to their wellbeing.

As Fiasconaro put it:

“I had to be pretty focused and tenacious in finding information and then making the most informed decision for myself. I’m grateful I was able to do so, but again, I know every woman might not be in that position, and it can be very scary and confusing.”

It is often portrayed as a happy and exciting time but the experience of pregnancy can be mixed, with physical and mental complications dampening the experience.

In a recently released documentary, Momsand Meds, director Dina Fiasconaro addresses the challenges that she and other women with psychiatric disorders face during pregnancy.

Fiasconaro’s goal in making the documentary was to investigate women’s experiences with psychotropic drugs at this life stage. She became pregnant while on anti-anxiety medication and had difficulty obtaining clear information from healthcare professionals.

In an interview with the Trauma and Mental Health Report, Fiasconaro explained:

“I received very conflicting information on what medications were safe from my psychiatrist, therapist, and high-risk obstetrician. Even with non-psychiatric medication, I couldn’t get a clear answer, or from the pharmaceutical companies that manufactured them. No one wanted to say ‘that’s okay’ and be liable if something were to go awry.”

When she spoke to her maternal/fetal specialist, she was provided with a stack of research abstracts regarding the use of certain psychotropic medications during pregnancy. Although the information was helpful, it didn’t adequately inform her about the risks and benefits of medication use versus non-use.

One of the main questions Fiasconaro had was, should she continue using medication and risk harming her baby, or should she discontinue use and risk harming herself?

One of the women featured in Moms and Meds, Kelly Ford, contemplated suicide several times during pregnancy. When her feelings began to intensify, she admitted herself to a hospital. There, she was steered away from taking medication which led her to feel significant distress and an inability to cope with her declining mental health.

Elizabeth Fitelson, director of the Women’s Program at Columbia University, also featured in the documentary, believes there is a tendency for healthcare professionals to dismiss mental illness in pregnant women.

In the film, Fitelson said:

“If a pregnant woman falls and breaks her leg, for example, we don’t say, ‘Oh, we can’t give you anything for pain because there may be some potential risk for the baby.’ We say, ‘Of course we have to treat your pain. That’s excruciating. We’ll give you this. There are some risks, but the risks are low and, of course, we have to treat the pain. ‘”

This lack of validation for mental health issues was echoed by Fiasconaro when she visited her doctor:

“I was referred to a high-risk obstetrician by my therapist. Although I was given the proper advice, that high-risk doctor ended up being very insensitive to my mental illness. She told me that everybody’s anxious and brushed it off like it was a non-issue. I understand that in the larger context of what she does and who she treats, my anxiety probably seemed like a low priority in the face of other, seemingly more threatening, physical illnesses.”

The ambiguous information provided by health professionals is representative of a lack of research on the risks of using medication during pregnancy.

Mary Blehar and colleagues, at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), state in the Journal of Women and Health that data are lacking on the subject. In a review of clinical research on pregnant women, they found that data obtained over the last 30 years, about which medications are harmful and which can be used safely, are incomplete. These gaps are largely due to the majority of information being based on case reports of congenital abnormalities, which are rare and difficult to follow.

During her pregnancy, Fiasconaro was able to slowly stop taking her anxiety medication. But halting treatment is sometimes not an option for women who suffer from severe, debilitating psychiatric conditions such as bipolar disorder, major depression, or schizophrenia.

We also need to improve access to information on pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment options, including psychotherapy for women with mental-health problems during pregnancy. Without adequate guidance, the management of psychiatric conditions can leave many feeling alone and overburdened. These women often feel stigmatized and neglected by healthcare professionals. The development of supportive and informative relationships is necessary to their wellbeing.

As Fiasconaro put it:

“I had to be pretty focused and tenacious in finding information and then making the most informed decision for myself. I’m grateful I was able to do so, but again, I know every woman might not be in that position, and it can be very scary and confusing.”

A January 2016 Vancouver Sun article reported on 16 seniors in British Columbia (BC) killed in the last 4 years from violence in long-term care facilities.

While the mention of violence in nursing homes conjures images of support workers abusing patients, these altercations actually took place between patients. In each case, either one or both of the people involved suffered from a severe cognitive disability.

In one case, Karl Otessen, who suffered from dementia, had experienced multiple outbursts in which he would attack staff or rip off his clothes. He was on medication, and behavioral strategies had been implemented by the nurses, yet Otessen’s final attack resulted in a fractured hip, and he later died from related complications.

This sort of violence by a patient is rarely premeditated, making it difficult to prevent. The Alzheimer’s Society describes dementia patients as having difficulty describing their needs, leading to frustration and aggression. And dementia often causes decreased inhibition, resulting in violent and unpredictable outbursts.

In an interview with Global News, Sara Kaur, a support worker at a long-term care center in Mississauga, said that “Conflict can be prevented by understanding dementia and a senior’s inability to communicate simple needs.” By understanding the causes and symptoms of a mental-health disorder, a long-term care facility employee has a better chance of resolving potentially violent situations in a productive manner.

Many facilities have reported that they are under-staffed and under-equipped. But an article from Healthy Debate Canada, a publication focusing on the Canadian health care system, notes that:

“While we need more staff in long term care, just establishing an arbitrary number for staffing ratio isn’t the solution; it’s equally important to look at how much time staff are able to spend directly with residents, and whether they have the training they need to provide quality care.”

In Otessen’s case, although nurses tried to use a number of behavioural techniques to calm him, if a specific mental-health treatment plan had been in place, it’s possible that his violent behavior would have been reduced or eliminated entirely.

The Ontario Long Term Care Association, which examines progressive practices for long-term care homes, has suggested the use of specialized teams of nurses and support workers who are trained in identifying the triggers that lead to aggression in dementia patients. After identifying those triggers, the goal is to then create a solution to address the issue and protect other patients.

Using specialized teams may reduce the burden on regular support workers while also addressing the mental health needs of patients in an individualized manner. It is not enough to issue facility-wide policy changes to address behavioural issues when their causes vary from case to case.

The issue of patient-on-patient violence won’t be resolved without further attention. In Canada alone, there are currently over 750,000 individuals living with dementia, a number projected to double in 15 years. The growing elderly population must be considered when implementing budgetary and training changes to long-term care facilities.

An app called Dragon Anywhere allows people to talk to their smart phone with no word or time limits. Talking out loud with a piece of technology is socially acceptable these days, but what about when no one or no thing is listening?

Many associate hearing voices or talking to oneself with mental illnesses like schizophrenia. And because these behaviours deviate from the norm, they make people uncomfortable.

But might there be benefits to expressing inner voices out loud?

James McConnell, an American biologist and animal psychologist, has said that talking to oneself is psychologically healthy. And neuroscientist Jill Bolte Taylor, in her book My Stroke of Insight, argues that speaking out loud makes the mind more focused, and even calls it “a powerful instrument”.

In an article in The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, Gary Lupyan and Daniel Swingley discuss the functions of talking to oneself, also known as self-directed speech. Compared to thinking about a word (e.g., chair), hearing a word out loud can make us better visual detectors of that word in our surroundings. Speaking facilitates the search. This phenomenon is called the label feedback hypothesis.

It is unclear, however, whether the label feedback hypothesis can be applied to broader concepts like happiness. Can happiness literally be spoken into existence?

Proponents of positive affirmations think so, noting the benefits of repeating positive statements directed toward oneself. A study at the University of California, Los Angeles, showed that students who repeated positive affirmations produced fewer stresshormones. And another study published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin by a team of researchers from Columbia, Berkeley, and Google found positive self-affirmations help those in low-power positions perform better.

Self-talk has other benefits as well. In a PsychCentral piece, Talking to Yourself: A Sign of Sanity, psychologist Linda Sapadin notes that giving voice to our goals focuses attention, controls emotions, and keeps distractions away.

In fact, this may be the best way for some individuals to get organized. While a number of people are visual learners, using calendars and to-do lists, it may be that others do better by simply speaking out loud.

Matt Duczeminski explains in his book 6 Benefits of Talking to Yourself (No, You’re Not Crazy) that talking through your thoughts helps distinguish big tasks from smaller ones, for example, getting organized by talking through a to-do list.

But not all self-talk is useful. In fact, talking about our failures and putting ourselves down can be quite harmful. As Sapadin puts it, “That kind of self-talk is worse than no talk at all.” And it can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy, where we view ourselves negatively and act accordingly, attracting others who reinforce those beliefs.

The link between negative self-talk and depression is also quite strong. In fact, those who engage in more negative self-talk experience more stress and inferior health, both psychologically and physically. Language and cognition expert, Steven Hayes, says negative thoughts are like passengers in the backseat of the car you’re driving. You hear them, but your focus should be on the task ahead.

Another way of coping with negative self-talk is by giving your negative voice a name. Brené Brown, author of the New York Times Bestsellers The Gifts of Imperfection and Daring Greatly, calls her inner critic ‘The Gremlin’, making light of the little voice inside her head.

The internet is rife with social media societies on many popular sites, including Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr. #Ana, #Sue, #Cat—translated, they mean anorexia, suicidal, and self-harm.

By searching these tags, online users are exposed to a slew of posts from people experiencing the mental illnesses or issues tagged. On Instagram you can find pictures of users with fresh cuts on their arms accompanied by the hashtag #Cat, indicating self-harm.

A study by Janis Whitlock, Jane Powers, and John Eckenrode at Cornell University found that the self-injury-related message boards studied were mostly frequented by females between the ages of 14 and 20.

With so many young people accessing social media, membership to these online communities can be concerning. In an interview with Vice, Frank Köhnlein, a youth psychiatrist at the University Clinic in Basel, discussed how young members are particularly vulnerable:

“Young people who are already fragile and perhaps already have experience with self-harm could be massively stimulated by this sort of thing and encouraged to self-harm again. When self-harm is glorified or—as in this case—put into an almost religious context, so that it is evaluated positively, the risk is particularly high.”

The Whitlock study showed that online interactions can reduce social isolation in adolescents since the exchanges allow teenagers to connect with others easily. In essence, social media can serve as a virtual support group where users gain instant help.

But negative implications may outweigh the positive. Whitlock also found that participating in self-harm message boards online can normalize and encourage self-harm, and teach vulnerable individuals tactics to conceal self-injurious behaviors. Users within these virtual sub-communities often exchange techniques for self-harming as well.

A study by Carla Zdanow and Bianca Wright at the Department of Journalism, Media, and Philosophy at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University looked at user statements in two Emo Facebook groups. They found that cutting was discussed often, with teenagers openly expressing affirmative opinions of these behaviors.

Sites like Instagram are aware of the precarious environment their users have created. When searching for tags like #Sue, a “Content Advisory” warning comes up reading, “Please be advised: These posts may contain graphic content. For information and support with suicide or self-harm please tap on Learn More.” The notice displays a link to Befrienders Worldwide, a site that provides emotional support to prevent suicide. Users can then choose to view posts or navigate away from their original search.

Instagram outlines the types of photos and videos that are “appropriate” for posting in their Community Guidelines, specifically singling out eating disorders, and self-injury as not welcome in the community.

Megan Moreno at the Seattle Children’s Research Institute and colleagues conducted a study where they found 10 hashtags on Instagram related to non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). A popular image outlining the code words for mental illnesses titled #MySecretFamily had over 1.5 million search results. Only one-third of the NSSI related hashtags generated content advisory warnings, which means that the majority of this NSSI content is easily accessible to all Instagram users, regardless of age or mental stability.

In an interview with A Stark Reality, a 15-year-old girl from Denmark, whose name was changed to protect her identity, described her relationship with this online community:

“The community means that I can express myself, and talk to people all over the world that feel the same way. Sometimes we cheer each other up, other times we drag each other down in that big, black hole called sadness.”

For better or worse, people reach out to online communities. But sites like Instagram and Twitter can play a greater role in providing their users with mental health resources and accurate information.

On August 18, 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Flibanserin, a drug that treats low sexual desire in women.

With the medication’s presence on the market, you’d think that low sexual desire in women would be well understood. In fact, there is still widespread debate on the issue. Marta Meana, a psychologist at the University of Nevada, writes:

“Desire is the most subjective and acutely amorphous component of sexuality.”

And Lori A. Brotto, a Professor of Gynecology at the University of British Columbia, offers a similar view, explaining:

“There is no clear consensus on the causes of sexual dysfunction in women.”

While women experience obstacles to fulfillment, the causes are complex. According to Brotto:

There are also differing perspectives on proper terminology around the issue. In an interview with the Trauma and Mental Health Report, Kristen Mark, Director of the Sexual Health Promotion Lab at the University of Kentucky, said:

“Sexual dysfunction may not be the most accurate way to describe low sexual desire. Women may experience sexual problems, but sexual desire ebbs and flows, so people should expect that it will fluctuate.”

Deciding between the word “dysfunction” or “problem” may seem trivial. But language creates meaning, and shapes how health professionals treat clients and conduct research.

Other clinicians agree. Leonore Tiefer, Associate Professor at the New York University School of Medicine, offers two metaphors for sex. The first is digestion. In this metaphor, sex is “just there”. Like digestion, it does not require learning, but is a natural or innate action that the body is equipped for at birth.

The other metaphor is dance. There are many ways to dance. Some people are better at dancing, and some people like dancing more than others. Tiefer argues that sex, like dance, is a learned skill.

Tiefer has advocated extensively against pharmaceutical interventions for female sexual problems. In 2000, she convened The New View Campaign, a collective of clinicians and social scientists dedicated to reframing the conversation around sexuality.

In a 2006 article on disease mongering, Tiefer explains why a purely biological approach to sexual health is inadequate:

“A long history of social and political control of sexual expression created reservoirs of shame and ignorance that make it difficult for many people to understand sexual satisfaction or cope with sexual problems.”

To emphasize that sex has a social context, the New View wrote an alternative system of classification for sexual problems. The first category is “sexual problems due to socio-cultural, political, or economic factors”, and the second is, “problems relating to partner and relationship”.

These categories includes specific causative factors, such as “ignorance and anxiety due to inadequate sex education, lack of access to health services, or other social constraints.”

According to Tiefer:

“Popular culture has greatly inflated public expectations about sexual function. People are fed a myth that sex is “natural”—that is, a matter of automatic and unlearned biological function—at the same time as they expect high levels of performance and enduring pleasure, they are likely to look for simple solutions.”

The drug Flibanserin is one of these ‘simple solutions’. Its approval has been met with controversy.

According to Loes Jaspers and colleagues at Erasmus University Medical Center, the effectiveness of Flibanserin is very low. In a meta-analysis examining the effect of the medication in about 6000 women, Jaspers found that those receiving the drug experienced, on average, only 0.5 more “sexually satisfying” events per month compared to those receiving a placebo.

At the same time, it carries a black label, which the FDA assigns to drugs that include serious side effects. For Flibanserin, these include sedation and fatigue. When combined with alcohol and other common drugs, it can cause dangerously low blood pressure and fainting.

And non-medical treatments, such as mindfulness-based sex therapy, can be effective for treating low sexual desire. According to Brotto, mindfulness shifts attention away from negative, self-defeating thoughts, and towards sensation and pleasure.

Mark, however, thinks that hope should not be abandoned for a medical solution. She says:

“At this point, I would not recommend Flibanserin for most women coping with desire problems. There may be a medication in the future that meets women’s needs when used in conjunction with other approaches, but this just isn’t it.”

Whether women’s sexual problems should be medically treated is still debatable. But what is clear is that social and cultural factors shaping women’s sexual experiences should not be bypassed for a quick solution.

On March 4, 2016, Devon LaFleur, a 30-year-old struggling with bipolar disorder, went missing. His father contacted law enforcement to notify police of his son’s mental illness and tendency towards violence. After learning that LaFleur had allegedly robbed a bank and was on the run, Toronto police tracked down and fatally shot the young man during a confrontation.

In many instances where mental illness is concerned, police officers respond too quickly with force. In an analysis conducted by The Washington Post, American officers shot 124 people who showed some sign of mental or emotional distress in 2015.

The Post explains that, for the majority of these crimes, the police were not called for reports of criminal activity. As in LaFleur’s case, police were contacted by “relatives, neighbors or other bystanders worried that a mentally fragile person was behaving erratically.”

An article by psychiatry professor Richard Lamb and colleagues at the University of Southern California reports that police officers are authorized to transport individuals with mental illness for psychiatric evaluation when there is reason to believe that they pose a danger or threat. But the researchers also state that this responsibility turns officers into ‘street-corner psychiatrists’ without giving them the training they need to make on-the-spot decisions about mentally ill offenders.

An article published in Criminal Justice Review by Teresa LaGrange shows that “higher educated police officers recognize a broader range of disorders” and they are more likely to “view the situation as requiring a professional intervention.”

However, LaGrange also recognizes that instead of teaching practical skills like learning how to identify individuals with mental-health conditions, many educational workshops only consist of general descriptions about psychological terms and concepts.

Police officers need to know how to handle individuals who display different types of mental illnesses. The Washington Post analysis states that the most extreme cases of mentally ill people causing a disturbance were schizophrenic individuals and those who displayed suicidal tendencies or had some form of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

In some states, crisis intervention team training (CIT) is being implemented to help officers identify mental illness and determine the best course of action.

CIT consists of a 40-hour training program for police forces that educates officers on mental-health issues and medications and teaches about mental-health services in the local community. CIT also teaches methods that help de-escalate heated situations by encouraging officers to allow vulnerable individuals to vent their frustrations—methods that could have been useful in LaFleur’s case to reduce the risk of violence from both the police and offender.

So far, this program has been considered effective by the police departments using it.

Major Sam Cochran of the Memphis police department, a retired officer and a coordinator of the CIT program, emphasizes that law enforcement should partner with local mental-health agencies: “If communities give attention only to law enforcement, you will fail as a training program. You cannot separate the two.”

Although the task of identifying mentally ill individuals can be daunting, these training programs are a step toward preventing injustices for individuals like LaFleur. Providing officers with appropriate training not only improves the ability to handle job stress but may also provide mentally ill offenders with a chance to receive treatment.

“As far back as I can remember, Michael was always good at being silly. He could make me laugh harder than anyone. He was very creative, and always had a good ear for music.”

In an interview with the Trauma and Mental Health Report, Samantha (names changed for anonymity) shared her experiences living through the suicide of her older brother, Michael, when she was sixteen years old.

Michael’s battle with mental illness began as a teen. He struggled with low self-esteem and clinical depression, and consequently self-medicated.

“After my parents’ divorce, his mental health took a turn for the worse. He was always getting stoned and was generally depressed… After he took LSD with his friend, he was never the same. He was in a psychotic, suicidal state from the drug, so my parents took him to a mental hospital one night… He stayed in the hospital for a week, and was moved to a rehab facility to learn coping skills to become less dependent on marijuana. He was in an extremely dark place during his stay there, and came home in September to start school. He committed suicide on October 15, 2007.”

Samantha’s experience is not uncommon. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people aged 15 to 34. And according to a report published by the National Institute of Mental Health, depression and substance abuse (often in combination with other mental disorders) are common risk factors for suicide.

“Words could never express how I felt when I found out. I fell to the ground in absolute hysterics. It’s such an out-of-body memory for me… to go from having an older brother and having visions of our future together, to then in a second having all of that taken away from you.”

Samantha also experienced dissociative thoughts after her brother’s suicide.

“I remember thinking that maybe we were being ‘punk’d’, and that this was all part of a twisted social experiment to show the devastating effects suicide has on a family. That probably lasted a year or so in order to protect my brain from feeling too deeply and to help me focus on other things, like getting into college.”

Samantha began using marijuana and alcohol regularly to numb feelings of anger and loss. Her transition to college was challenging—she had difficulty balancing school work with partying, and often felt isolated.

“I felt like I couldn’t relate to most of my peers, and was extremely lonely. I was always getting high by myself, and reflecting on the past. While all of this was going on, my dad got remarried and had a baby during my freshman year of college. It was really hard for me to watch him start a new family while I was still grieving the loss of our old family.”

Samantha’s decision to self-medicate to deal with her unresolved grief is common among adolescents who lack strong social support.

“I think about Michael every day… but finally I have the relationships and living environment to really dig deep and process what I’ve been through. Yoga and meditation have also played a huge part in my healing process, as well as hula hoop dancing.”

In fact, yoga and meditation can help the healing process. Research by psychology professor Stefan Hofmann and colleagues at Boston University describes the benefits of mindfulness meditation for anxiety and mood symptoms. In their meta-analysis of 39 research studies, individuals who practiced mindfulness meditation experienced reduced anxiety, grief, and depressive symptoms.

Everyone grieves in their own way, and moving on doesn’t have to mean leaving the loved one’s memory behind. As for Samantha: “Michael continues to live on with all of those who knew him.”

“I have stage 3 cancer; my friend has stage 1—which is like a pimple.”

On her personal blog, Debbie Woodbury, a woman diagnosed with Stage 0 cancer, references this comment by a fellow cancer patient. While she considers the comment hurtful, she is not particularly surprised.

Cancer prognoses vary, and there is large variation in survival between types and degrees of illness. Some are fortunate to survive without the sickening effects of chemotherapy, the fear of losing hair, or surgeries that leave patients bedridden for weeks. But people may also minimize their cancer journey, or be made to view their experiences as ‘lesser’.

Woodbury explains:

“Without a tumor and with a Stage 0 cancer diagnosis, I started this journey not even sure I was qualified to call myself a cancer patient.”

Similarly, Lesley Miller writes of her husband:

“I bought him a bold yellow shirt that said ‘survivor’ across the front. ‘Survivor,’ in his mind, is nothing to tell the world about. He didn’t do anything to claim survivor status; his body just had a treatable cancer that happened to respond to drugs.”

Just like that, degrees of illness become a competition, belittle personal struggles, and create segregation among patients and those in remission.

In January 2015, cancer survivor Cindy Finch posted an article in the Huffington Post entitled “The 6 Injustices of Cancer.” The article received a great deal of backlash for suggesting that certain cancer patients “get off really easy”. She claimed:

“I’ve heard it a hundred times, ‘I’m a cancer survivor, too.’ ‘Oh, really? What type of cancer did you have and what was your treatment?’ ‘Oh, I had thyroid cancer and had to take a radioactive pill for 30 days. Then I was all better.’”

Finch talks about individuals with ‘worse’ diagnoses:

“These folks represent the worst among us. If you’re not one of these folks, perhaps you should be quiet and sit down, and let someone else tell their war story.”

As if some cancer patients just aren’t macho enough. Attitudes like these have negative consequences on patient mental health.

Cancer patients often report feelings of guilt for surviving the illness. Survivor guilt is common among people who have gone through traumatic experiences, such as war, accidents, natural disasters, and interpersonal abuse. For Woodbury, not suffering enough throughout her cancer experience elicited guilt feelings.

Some individuals also consider themselves less deserving. Ann Silberman, a breast cancer survivor, writes in her personal blog:

“It was my belief that others deserved to live more than I did. Better people than me are now gone; people who were funnier, who were kinder, who had more to give.”

And then, of course, there are expectations people have of cancer patients: The image of the strong, inspirational individual, filled with gratitude for a second chance at life.

Silberman continues:

“I am still trudging along, bitching about how cold I am and slamming pain meds for my aches and pains.”

According to Crystal Park and colleagues at the University of Connecticut at Storrs, living through cancer results in the development of new identities that can define people for the rest of their lives. For those still in active treatment, the identity of patient or victim can develop, carrying the connotation of severe suffering inflicted on them. But for those who have survived such adversity, the most common identity was survivor, which carries the connotation of cure.

As cancer becomes an engrained aspect of an individual’s identity, it may be natural for those who suffered greatly to take pride in how much they overcame, indeed to try to silence others who have not experienced the same level of adversity.

But Woodbury takes umbrage at this view, noting:

“The truth is that cancer is not a competition and, just as I am enough, so is my cancer. I certainly did go through less than someone else might have gone through. Thank God for that. For that I should be grateful, not made to feel, by myself or anyone else, that I am guilty of not suffering enough to qualify in the cancer games.”